The Irish standard., 1887-12-10
JAMES SHERIDAN KNOWLES.
Some Particulars Concerning the ceIe-
brated Irish DramatIst.
from North, and South.]

From North and South.
Irisbmen have always been largely
endowed with the dramatic faculty.
Long before theatres had sprung into
existence miracle plays were noted By
the citizens of Dublin; and many Of the
pegeants in the Irish capital in the
| fourteenth and fifteenth centuries as
sumed dramatic form. The fierce
warfare so long waged between the
Irish clans and the mobiles OF the Pale
had many of the grand and striking
features that raise tragedy above the
leve! OF ordinary life. We find much
Of the dramatic element too. in the
chequered but still glorious history of
the 1ris|. Brigade-the famous ''Wild
Geese" whose dare-deyilrY and heroic
valor excited the enthusiasm of the
gentle souled Thomas Davis. Coming
down to later period we see this fac
ulty asserting itself more directly, both
| in the production Of successful plays
and in the representation Of characters
op the stage by men and women Of irish
birth. Some of the most sparkling
comedies al the last century We're writ
ten by Iris!lmen, and the vitality of
| thesa productions is shown by the fact
that Snpridan's ''School for Scandal
and GoIdsmjth's s "She Stoops to Con
quey'' are still acted bef. re crowded
houses in spite Of the vast difference
between the state OF society which they
depict and that Of our own times.
Curjousiy enough, some Of the most
successful modern tragedies have been
composed by an lrishman who also
bore the same name Of Sheridan--,not,
indeed, as IL patronymic, but in con-
! junction with a somewhat unpreten-
tous surname. The dramatic works OF
James Sheridan Knowles are so numer-
GUS and Of such uniform excellence
that g sketch of his career can scarcely
fail to excite general interest. 1T may
be said by the hYpercritjcal that, as he
wrote avowedly for the stage he cannot,
be ranked amongst dramatic poets; but
it is by 40 n ans clear that The failure
Of SO many dramatic poen2s,'' as their
authors love to DESIGNATE chem, is sole
ly due to the stupidity Of the public, or
that the success of acting plays. like
"Virginius'' and 1.-The Hunchback, y
is due 10 their purely mechanical struc-
ture. In reality, the plays Of this sue
cessful Irish dramatjst are full of poetic
beauty and deep palhos, which move
even those who merely read them
almost to tears. We may claim for
Sheridan Knowles that he was one OF
natures poets who, like Shakespeare
himself, modest}y posed before the
world as playwright, and did not dis
dam 10 tread the boards as snbordin-
ate actor in his owu ,lagedies. Though
he did not possess the nlanysidedness
of the great Bard of Avon. he resen-
bled him in many things. He was ca
pable Of grasping the dramatic aspects
of classical hist ory and adapting them
to histrionic purposes; and 90 better
proof Of this fact can ba found than
the popularity which his Roman TRACE
dies, "Caius Gracious and tVir.
ginius" enjoyed for long period-a
popularity almost as great as that Of
Julius Caesar" or Anthony and Cleo
patra."
/ James Sheridan Knowles was born in
Cork on the 18th Of May, 1854. His
father, James Knowles, came from
England to Cork IN 1880, and opened a
school there for the instruction Of
youths in English grammar, reading,
elocutit n, and composition. This OBJ
| scure teacher was q man Of good ei1uca
ton, and was, moreover, we'll conrect-
ed, Richard BrinsIey Sheridan being his
first cousin, and Thomas Sheridan, one
of the Irish notabilities ct the period,
! his uncle 1t is recorded that he suf
fered for his Independence Of character,
owing to the political prejudices which
were rampant in those days even in the
enlightened city Of Cork. AN editor of
Southern newspaper, named DR.. Drls-
coll, was prosecuted for an alleged
libel on the government Of the day. and
was sentenced to term Of imprison-
ment. James knowles, who knew this
man and esteemed him, walked arm in
arm with him as he was being led to
the prison. The incident was. of
course, enough to excite the wrath Of
the bigots and "toadies, who were
then rather numerous in Cork, and the
result was that one week later. the
school was empty. In this emergency
the unfortunate teacher was assisted by
his generous and gifted cousin, Richard
Brinsley Sheridan. The mother of
James Sheridan Knowles was the
daughter OF Andrew Peace, a man OF
thorough respecta bilisy, and she seems
to have been a woman Of great sensi-
bility aud singularly afectionate dis
position. Before her alliance with
r HN e.